Far, far, there's this little girl

Bonjour. I'm going to keep the text brief in this update because I am so behind in posting photos! Oops. Yesterday David and I went to the Korean DMZ (demilitarized zone). I took photos wherever I was allowed to and I'll post those at a later date. The experience was really cool. We were, in fact, able to see North Korea which was pretty cool.

In other news, today marks exactly 2 weeks until we board the plane to Chicago. In other words, I'll be on American soil two weeks from now. Whoa! :)

Mmk - on to the photos. This next back is from China. I'm going to post a small sampling from The Forbidden City and the Lama Temple and then you can check out the rest at my flickr. Just click the pictures and it'll take you there. I want to post most of the photos I took of the Hutongs, though. I'll explain what they are when I get to the photos!

Anything else to say? Hm...I can't think of anything. Took care of some more wedding things, bought bridesmaid's gifts (so adorable!) and everything for the wedding favors. My card got charged twice for those, though...ugh! :x I have to call and amend that one. Okay, nothing else to say. :)

Photos!

This first batch is from Beijing's famous Forbidden City.

The moat outside of the Forbidden City. So cool! You can see how hazy/polluted it is in Beijing with this photo. Yuck!


Us standing outside of the FC.


Inside of the Forbidden City. So you know, the Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace that served as a city for royalty beginning in the Ming Dynasty and lasting to the end of the Qing Dynasty. If anyone else entered besides those of royal blood, off with their head! :D

*We had our names hand engraved into little stamps. It's kind of touristy but super cool! If you want to be pen pals I'll sign my letter with my chinese name stamp.







Like I said, if you want to see more (and there are plenty), click on one of the photos! :)

The next set is from the Lama Temple, also in Beijing. It was built in 1694 during the Qing Dynasty and is the largest and best-preserved lamasery in Beijing.




Does David love me?!






This buddha (the Maitreya Buddha) is so rad! It's located in The Pavilion of Infinite Happiness and up until 10-15 years ago it was the biggest Buddha in the world at 26 meters tall (that's about 85 feet, folks)! Here's a photo with David in it to put the height into perspective.







Okay, I also want to include some photos from the Beijing Olympic area. There are only a few. It was actually really cool to see this modernly designed buildings. It was quite hazy the day we went, but what can you do? :)






This is the aquatic center, where Michael Phelps spent most of his time at the 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics. Rad!


This is me in front of the Bird's Nest. This is where the opening ceremony took place and other sports events.



Okay. And this last set of photos (for the blog) are of the Beijing hutongs. Hutong's are the name for Beijing's tiny alleys/streets and are part of what makes the city so unique. People live in these hutongs (and there is food, businesses etc. there, as well) and share a communal bathroom and whatnot. Very interesting place to wander and get a taste of "real Beijing." This hutong was located directly behind our hostel.























Mmk, that's all for now. The next update I'll post pictures from The Great Wall of China (so incredible!) and then after that photos from the DMZ. Until then, dearies.

Wendy City